National University Lady Bulldogs showed its offensive prowess in thwarting the College Of Saint Benilde Lady Blazers in straight sets, 25-19, 25-21, 25-18 to continue its quarterfinals campaign in the Shakeys V-League Collegiate Conference in the FilOil Flying V Arena, Sunday afternoon.
The Lady Bulldogs quickly blitzed the Lady Blazers in the early moments of the first set with a 5-1 lead. The Taft based squad, behind Ranya Musa, Rachel Austero, Ellaine Dolorito, was able to bounce back and tie the set at 7-all. Still, behind Dindin Santigo-Manabat, Jaja Santiago, Myla Pablo and timely errors from the Lady Blazers , the Lady Bulldogs pulled away with the first set victory.
With both teams chasing each other in the early stretch of the second set, Benilde was eventually able to take the lead 16-14. the Lady Bulldogs relied on Manabat, Santiago and Pablo to push its offense in the latter part of the set as the Lady Blazers were unable to catch up in the set.
In the third set, both teams answered each other through their attacks and errors. With both teams tied at 15 all, Jannine Navarro committed a service error to give the Lady Bulldogs a slim 16-15 lead heading to the second technical time out. NU once again relied on Pablo and Manabat to bury the Lady Blazers.
After the game, NU Lady Bulldogs Head Coach Roger Gorayeb expressed his satisfaction with the performance of the Lady Bulldogs but there are still unnecessary errors his players committed that he wants to improve on.
“Ayos naman, maganda naman ang nilaro, may mga elementary errors na hindi dapat, kailangan ko pa pukpukin,” Gorayeb said.
Gorayeb also gave his assessment on Diolan who was subbed out by veteran setter Ivy Perez multiple times in the match.
“Okay naman, lagi ko pinapasok iyan para magkaroon ng confidence lalo last year(UAAP) ni Ivy Perez,” Gorayeb added.
Manabat top scored the Lady Bulldogs with 13 points while Pablo and Santiago chipped 11 points each.
Ranya Musa led the Lady Blazers with seven points, while Navarro, Melanie Torres and Djanel Cheng contributed five points each.
The Lady Bulldogs will continue its push for a semifinals slot against the UST Growling Tigresses on August 30 at 12:45 PM while the Lady Blazers will face the UP Lady Maroons at 3:00 PM in the same venue.
The scores:
NU (3) – Manabat 13, Pablo 11, Santiago 11, Urdas 6, Singh 3, Nabor 2, Perez 2, Diolan 1, Doromal 1, Doria 0, General (L), Valdez (L)
CSB (0)– Musa 7, Torres 5, Navarro 5, Cheng 5, Dolorito 4, Daguil 2, Austero 2, Ventura 0, Umali 0, Borrero 0, Lim (L), Enclona (L)
